Alright, Judy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

We are able to use beer to raise money and awareness for local non-profits and this is one of the most rewarding aspects of this industry. One example is our BARCStoberfest that we are now on year 2 and local animal rescue, BARCS, holds a raffle and the winner gets their dog on the can label. In addition to that, we donate $1 per pint or can back to BARCS and donate beer to them for their fundraising events. We have brewed a small batch beer, also 2 years running, with Marvin from the Baltimore Compost Collective and they also receive $1 per pint and a platform to speak at our anniversary party each year to spread the word about compost and giving kids in underserved neighborhoods both skills and fresh food from their farm.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started homebrewing about 17 years ago after visiting Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. It turned from a hobby into a passion and after getting to know a lot of local craft brewers and discovering how amazing and collaborative the industry is, joined it officially 4 years ago when we opened Checkerspot Brewing. The beer I am most proud of is Juniperus IPA, an IPA brewed with juniper berries and my favorite Idaho 7 hops, giving the beer a piney, dank candy flavor. This is my baby that I perfected in my basement for years before we opened and I finally found the right combination to create exactly what I was looking for. This beer helped us win the Sam Adams Brewing an American Dream competition! In addition to being able to “give back” with beer, we strive to have a wide range of styles for a wide range of beer drinkers (and even seltzer for the non-beer drinkers) and have created a culture of inclusivity.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Like most, we had a giant pivot at the onset of the COVID pandemic. After realizing that we didn’t have to shut down and could provide carryout beer, we were amazed by the local outpouring of support that kept us in business and kept our staff working. We bought a canning line immediately and started canning our beer to be able to sell to liquor stores, which were having record sales and could support us while bars and restaurants were closed. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other each day and figured out how to keep going, from figuring out how to find outdoor space in a parking lot to keeping everyone safe.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I started this brewery with my husband, Rob, and this has made us stronger than ever. The key is that we run different sides of the brewery, with Rob running sales and distribution and me running the brewery and business sides. We met through a mutual friend here in Baltimore. I met our friend, Kory, while getting a poster framed at his framing shop (my first ever professionally framed poster) and Rob and Kory were best friends since middle school and this is why everyone calls Baltimore Smaltimore!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.checkerspotbrewing.com
• Instagram: @checkerspotbrewing
• Facebook: @checkerspotbrewing

Image Credits
For the picture with our beer artwork, art by Adam Miller.